Debt Spreadsheet – Found!

Oh Google, the things you do for me! Just imagine what it gave me with the search “debt stacking excel spreadsheet”?

You got it, numerous spreadsheets that I can use to essentially mimic for free what I’d have to pay $14.95 a month for over at DebtGoal.

I tested out the Debt Reduction Calculator at vertex42.com, the home of all-things Excel it seems, by clicking Download Now. (Go do this now! And you can click on the image at the left to see the spreadsheet that you’re going to use.)  

I easily and quickly downloaded a zip file containing two text files of info on who created the spreadsheet and how I can and cannot use it (basically personal use only; I can’t sell it and neither can you) and two Excel spreadsheets.

Note that this excel “calculator” let’s you use either the Debt Stacking method or the Debt Snowball method, whichever you prefer.  (If you remember from my DebtGoal review, debt stacking is paying your higher interest debt first so you pay less interest over time and this is the one I prefer to use. The people at vertex42 call this method Avalanche. Super cool.)

The difference between the two spreadsheets is that the one ending in “10” lets you list 10 debts and the one ending in “20” lets you list 20. Of course, you add to that 20 if you need to. But I hope you don’t.

The spreadsheet, whichever you choose, has excellent instruction so if you read them, you can’t go wrong. I’ll make it even easier for you…. Here’s what you do:

Step #1 – Add your Debts! – In order to easily do this, I logged into DebtGoal and copied my debts, including balances, APRs, and minimum Payment amounts, from there into the spreadsheet by clicking Show History on each of my debts in DebtGoal.

This is much easier than logging into each of your debt accounts and getting the info from each. Oh, how I love efficiencies (no need to be jealous Google; I can love more than one)! Regardless of how you do it, get ‘em in the spreadsheet!

Step #2 – What’s your Monthly Payment? – Decide and enter how much you’re going to throw at your debt every month. Get serious with this committment!

Step #3 – Pick your Strategy – Snowball or Avalanche? I’ve talked enough about this. Just choose which one you want.

Review! - Once you follow Steps 1 through 3, the nifty spreadsheet tells you when you’ll have each of the debts paid off and how much total interest you will have paid.

You can also switch between Strategies to see how much of a difference in interest they make.

For instance, if I stick with the Avalanche, I’ll pay $38 less interest than Snowball. So, in my debt-situation, clearly the strategy doesn’t make much of a difference. But I’m not backtracking, I like Avalanche! It sounds cooler than Snowball and still saves me nearly forty bucks in interest.

Step #4 – Now check out the Payment  Schedule tab, and you’ll see the actual payment schedule (go figure) that you’ll follow for everysingle  month until your debt free! Who hoo!

Final Step – Use it! (Wait, make sure to save your spreadsheet to your computer so you can indeed use it.)

Well, my job is done. I’ve found a better, free-er tool to help you figure out which debts to pay off to save you money and get you to a debt-free existence as soon as you can!

Will you please drop me a comment
letting me know if you’ve used this advice or what’s on your mind?

Will you share this using one of the clever-buttons below
if you know someone who would benefit from a debt-free plan?

Thank you!